Block paving edging blocks

[Zen83237]

I want to make a start on extending my existing block paving drive. My question relates to how I bed in the edging blocks. Do I do this on mortar or a dry mix of sand and cement packed down hard? The blocks will be hard up against the neighbour's drive so they will not move but may be nudged when either he or I manoeuvre our cars. Clearly I can't bed the edging blocks down with the vibrator but if I pack the bedding down hard then lay the blocks down I assume that once the mix has set over time it will not move if the blocks at driven over accidentally. If that is ok what ratio of mix and can I still use sharp sand or am I better off laying them on mortar?

Kevin

[stuart noble]

Just sharp sand is the norm round here.

[John Rumm]

Normally you would want a concrete haunch that retains the edge blocks properly. This needs to be sat on the compacted sub base, not the sand.

as in the diagram at the bottom:

The blocks will be hard up against the neighbour's drive so they will not However in this case, you can rely on the existing blocks to do the work. I would probably lay the "edge" course on some blinding (i.e. a very weak mix of dry grit sand and cement, well rammed down), since they will be more vulnerable to being moved since they stick up.

The alternative is just to do a normal course of blocks in a difference colour, so that you can drive over it without incident.

for the weak mix, probably something like 10:1

[Man at B&Q]

Not for the edging, unless they're all cowboy jobs.

MBQ

[stuart noble]

Sounds like the neighbour's drive would be the edging

[Zen83237]

Well yes. His drive is concrete but a slightly different level, only a couple if inches so I need a proper edging to set it off. I am using the ones with 45 degree chamfer. I want to set them quite low so they don't stick up too much so I am not too worried about driving over them but clipping them on full lock if either I or the neighbour weren't too careful when we reversed out. Laterally they will be wedged in well between the neigbours drive and the other blocks so I don't think that they should move. If they were the edging of a flower bed then I can understand the need to mortar them in well to stop them moving.

Kevin

[Man at B&Q]

Yes, in this case, but you referred to "the norm", or did you mean the norm only for cases where there is a solid edge to butt up against?

MBQ

[Dave Starling]

The way I read it is that the chamfer edge takes up the height difference, rather than anything else protruding above your existing block paving. Is that correct? That would look a neat job and be less of a trip hazard for anyone walking between drives.

You might also want to think about setting in some tubes every 6ft along the boundary. You don't want a fence now, but in a few years time it will be trivial to slot fence posts into those holes....

dave.

[stuart noble]

You've got to use your commonsense. You obviously need something solid at the edges to stop the sand being washed away, or squeezed out under pressure, but the stuff in between isn't going to go anywhere.

[Rick Hughes]